Shahla Al Kli is Counterpart’s Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Iraq Civil Society Activity, a program that focuses on strengthening citizen engagement and participation in the public sphere, especially among women and youth. Al Kli is also a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. Prior to that, she served as Research Analysis and Knowledge Mobilization Director at Proximity International, the Middle East Deputy Regional Director at Mercy Corps, a Principal Development Specialist at DAI Global, an advisor to the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, a senior advisor to the Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament, a former Country Director for Counterpart’s Iraq programs, and an auditor at the Central Bank of Iraq. She is a long-term development practitioner in the Middle East with expertise in politics, governance, security, state building, and fragile states. Her doctoral dissertation about governance and decentralization in Iraq at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University was awarded the Peter Ackerman Award for outstanding scholarly work.